These Diminutive Observations Seem To Take Away Something From The
Dignity Of Writing, And Therefore Are Never Communicated But With
Hesitation, And A Little Fear Of Abasement And Contempt.
But it
must be remembered, that life consists not of a series of
illustrious actions, or elegant enjoyments; the
Greater part of our
time passes in compliance with necessities, in the performance of
daily duties, in the removal of small inconveniences, in the
procurement of petty pleasures; and we are well or ill at ease, as
the main stream of life glides on smoothly, or is ruffled by small
obstacles and frequent interruption. The true state of every
nation is the state of common life. The manners of a people are
not to be found in the schools of learning, or the palaces of
greatness, where the national character is obscured or obliterated
by travel or instruction, by philosophy or vanity; nor is public
happiness to be estimated by the assemblies of the gay, or the
banquets of the rich. The great mass of nations is neither rich
nor gay: they whose aggregate constitutes the people, are found in
the streets, and the villages, in the shops and farms; and from
them collectively considered, must the measure of general
prosperity be taken. As they approach to delicacy a nation is
refined, as their conveniences are multiplied, a nation, at least a
commercial nation, must be denominated wealthy.
ELGIN
Finding nothing to detain us at Bamff, we set out in the morning,
and having breakfasted at Cullen, about noon came to Elgin, where
in the inn, that we supposed the best, a dinner was set before us,
which we could not eat. This was the first time, and except one,
the last, that I found any reason to complain of a Scotish table;
and such disappointments, I suppose, must be expected in every
country, where there is no great frequency of travellers.
The ruins of the cathedral of Elgin afforded us another proof of
the waste of reformation. There is enough yet remaining to shew,
that it was once magnificent. Its whole plot is easily traced. On
the north side of the choir, the chapter-house, which is roofed
with an arch of stone, remains entire; and on the south side,
another mass of building, which we could not enter, is preserved by
the care of the family of Gordon; but the body of the church is a
mass of fragments.
A paper was here put into our hands, which deduced from sufficient
authorities the history of this venerable ruin. The church of
Elgin had, in the intestine tumults of the barbarous ages, been
laid waste by the irruption of a highland chief, whom the bishop
had offended; but it was gradually restored to the state, of which
the traces may be now discerned, and was at last not destroyed by
the tumultuous violence of Knox, but more shamefully suffered to
dilapidate by deliberate robbery and frigid indifference. There is
still extant, in the books of the council, an order, of which I
cannot remember the date, but which was doubtless issued after the
Reformation, directing that the lead, which covers the two
cathedrals of Elgin and Aberdeen, shall be taken away, and
converted into money for the support of the army. A Scotch army
was in those times very cheaply kept; yet the lead of two churches
must have born so small a proportion to any military expence, that
it is hard not to believe the reason alleged to be merely popular,
and the money intended for some private purse. The order however
was obeyed; the two churches were stripped, and the lead was
shipped to be sold in Holland. I hope every reader will rejoice
that this cargo of sacrilege was lost at sea.
Let us not however make too much haste to despise our neighbours.
Our own cathedrals are mouldering by unregarded dilapidation. It
seems to be part of the despicable philosophy of the time to
despise monuments of sacred magnificence, and we are in danger of
doing that deliberately, which the Scots did not do but in the
unsettled state of an imperfect constitution.
Those who had once uncovered the cathedrals never wished to cover
them again; and being thus made useless, they were, first
neglected, and perhaps, as the stone was wanted, afterwards
demolished.
Elgin seems a place of little trade, and thinly inhabited. The
episcopal cities of Scotland, I believe, generally fell with their
churches, though some of them have since recovered by a situation
convenient for commerce. Thus Glasgow, though it has no longer an
archbishop, has risen beyond its original state by the opulence of
its traders; and Aberdeen, though its ancient stock had decayed,
flourishes by a new shoot in another place.
In the chief street of Elgin, the houses jut over the lowest story,
like the old buildings of timber in London, but with greater
prominence; so that there is sometimes a walk for a considerable
length under a cloister, or portico, which is now indeed frequently
broken, because the new houses have another form, but seems to have
been uniformly continued in the old city.
FORES. CALDER. FORT GEORGE
We went forwards the same day to Fores, the town to which Macbeth
was travelling, when he met the weird sisters in his way. This to
an Englishman is classic ground. Our imaginations were heated, and
our thoughts recalled to their old amusements.
We had now a prelude to the Highlands. We began to leave fertility
and culture behind us, and saw for a great length of road nothing
but heath; yet at Fochabars, a seat belonging to the duke of
Gordon, there is an orchard, which in Scotland I had never seen
before, with some timber trees, and a plantation of oaks.
At Fores we found good accommodation, but nothing worthy of
particular remark, and next morning entered upon the road, on which
Macbeth heard the fatal prediction; but we travelled on not
interrupted by promises of kingdoms, and came to Nairn, a royal
burgh, which, if once it flourished, is now in a state of miserable
decay; but I know not whether its chief annual magistrate has not
still the title of Lord Provost.
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